Compass - The Way

Activation #10

3/31/2015

Note: as we now have icons for each genre, we will begin publishing posts with the series title rather than the genre title. Thus, the next Activation will be entitled Wisdom #11.

Avoiding the wrong wisdom

In Proverbs, wisdom is described as a woman. Regardless of whether it comes from God or from another source, wisdom is given feminine traits. We see in Proverbs 5 that the writer is describing what it means to follow worldly wisdom. Today we'll see what happens when we pursue worldly wisdom and beliefs and how we can make sure we aren't consumed by it:

Hunger & Thirst #5

3/29/2015

Make Your Passion A Journey

We come to the end of our study on Hungering and Thirsting after righteousness. We've seen what hungering and thirsting really means; how to use our past to drive us in our hunger and thirst for Christ; that being righteous doesn't mean being perfect, but it requires being committed; and how to pour out what God fills us with as we pursue righteousness. With our final devotion on this topic, we'll see how important it is to keep this cycle going. We do this by examining Psalm 63:

Service #4

3/26/2015

Pour, Position, Challenge and Support

Last week we talked about how the mentor/apprentice relationship requires the two parties to work together and allow each other to play to their strengths. This week, we look at how a mentor can help an apprentice to advance on their own while still providing support.

Activation # 9

3/24/2015

Using Wisdom To Realize Your Passion

While true wisdom comes from God, there is some things we can do to protect it and ensure we are keeping the channel open to receiving it:

Hunger & Thirst #4

3/22/2015

Letting The River Run
What Being Filled Lets Us Do For Others

We all want to be filled with the presence and power of God. We know now that we can attain that by having a passion and appetite for God and His ways. He wants to fill us with his wisdom and righteousness so we can be in perfect harmony with him. However, he also has another reason for filling us. By looking at two conversations, we can find out what that other reason is:

Service # 3

3/19/2015

Sharing Responsibilities

Last week we looked at Elijah and Elisha to see how we should start our mentor/apprentice relationship. The mentor is to let their calling and relationship with God speak for them rather than their deeds and "fame". The apprentice is to be ready to go all-in and willing to serve in any capacity necessary. This week we look at how the two parties itneract together for the greater good of the Kingdom of God and how that benefits them, too. We use one of the first mentor/apprentice relationships in the Bible to discover this:

Activation #8

3/17/2015

What You Get When You Give

Activating wisdom sometimes requires us to give something back. If we will put some effort into our pursuit of wisdom, we'll find that wisdom has some amazing byproducts to give us:

Hunger & Thirst #3

3/15/2015

Activating Your Desire

We've identified what hungering and thirsting after righteousness means, and we've looked at our past in a new light. Now we can move forward and start letting God fill us with his righteousness. But what does Christ mean when he says righteousness?

Integrity
Virtue
Purity of Life
Uprightness
Correctness in Thinking, Feeling and Acting

That's a pretty amazing list. Could anyone have lived up to that list? One man did:

David's Righteousness

When Solomon was about to ascend to the throne, God spoke with him and gave him a promise:

And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments: (1 Kings 9:4)

That's pretty close to our list. We see that David had integrity deep down inside. He lived an upright-or honorable and honest-life. He did all that was commanded of him, which mean he was spiritually correct in his thinking, feeling and acting. We know David wasn't perfect, but he sought the Lord for virtue and a pure heart. This comes out in many of his Psalms. Virtue was passed down to him from his ancestor, Ruth, the only person to be described as virtuous in the Bible. It was grafted into him. He had all of these traits, and thus could be described as a righteous person (1 Kings 3:6).

Righteous ≠ Perfection

However, we know that David had his faults. He did not act correctly when he numbered the children of Israel (1 Chronicles 21:1) or when he cut the garment of Saul (1 Samuel 24:4). He was not virtuous or living a pure life when he committed adultery with Bathsheba(2 Samuel 11:4). He did not act honorably or with integrity when he had Uriah killed and tried to hide it(2 Samuel 11:14-17). Yet, David knew where to turn when he made mistakes (2 Samuel 12:13) He consistently turned back to God in repentance. He even wrote a wonderful Psalm about his repentance.

We see from this life that it doesn't take perfection to be righteous. It only takes a commitment to God and a willingness to turn to Him when we make mistakes. Most of David's life was spent in service and commitment to God. He didn't let his mistakes and shortcomings derail him from that service and commitment and neither should we.

The Promise That Comes With Righteous Living

When we do commit to the path of righteousness, God does have a promise for us. It is the same promise that he gave Solomon:

Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. (1 Kings 9:5)

God will establish us and we will not fail in the calling he has placed upon are head. It doesn't take perfection. Just desire and commitment.

Activation:

Take the desire and appetite you have built with God the last two weeks and make a fresh commitment to serving him and living by His statutes and leading. See how God solidifies and opens up your calling and purpose in Him as you grow in this commitment.

Blessed Are... Series Now Available in PDF

3/13/2015

You guys liked receiving The Climb series in PDF so much, we decided to offer the Blessed Are... series as well-FOR FREE! You can download it below and let us know your thoughts on it in the comments. If you have any questions or problems downloading, email us.

blessed_are_series.pdf
File Size:	1193 kb
File Type:	pdf

We are currently working on getting all of our content available in E-reader format as well so look forward to that in the near future.